


and i never saw you coming

by ZeGabz



Category: Emma Approved
Genre: F/M, Flashback fic, and he is her breakup buddy, in which emma is his prom date, yeah these two make me emotional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 11:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2107407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeGabz/pseuds/ZeGabz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She shouldn't be so surprised that she's in love with him. After all, they're old, old friends, since childhood. It's almost as if their story has been taken from an old romantic comedy.</p><p>But her realization hits her like a brick all the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and i never saw you coming

She shouldn't be so surprised that she's in love with him. After all, they're old, old friends, since childhood. It's almost as if their story has been taken from an old romantic comedy.

But her realization hits her like a brick all the same.

She sits in her office, still and stunned, for longer than she cares to admit. Emma Woodhouse is a woman of action, the kind of girl who would never sit idle when something important must be done.

She searches her heart and her memories, trying to think of a time when she wasn't determined to be first and foremost in Alex Knightley's life, first in his heart. She tries to remember not admiring the contours of his face, the slope of his shoulders, and yes, of course, the curve of his ass.

She shouldn't be so surprised she's in love with him.

She's wondered before, several times, if she was. But every time, she told herself that she's being ridiculous, that he's her friend, and nothing else.

Emma turns to her camera, her closest confidant, her journal. The documenter of her greatness, her failures.

"My name is Emma Woodhouse," she says with ire, "And I have been so busy managing others' hearts that I do not know my own."

* * *

Emma is five when she first wonders. Alex is teaching her how to play checkers, and when she fails miserably, he laughs at her. She complains about it to her father, who says, "Oh Emma, he only makes fun because he likes you."

Emma seriously considers the thought, as seriously as a five-year-old could, and decides that she's okay with it.

She repeats his words to Alex, who scrunches his face up in disgust. Emma, miffed, then declares that she thinks he's going to marry her. Alex runs, and Emma's father happily regales guests with the story for years to come.

Emma decides that she does not like the thought after all.

* * *

She is ten when she next wonders. Alex and John come to visit her and Izzy, and when John and Izzy disappear, she sits with Alex, who doesn't talk for a long time.

"Why are you so sad?" she asks. He turns to her in surprise.

"I'm not sad." She quirks an eyebrow, and he caves. "Okay, fine, but you're too young to understand." Emma snorts.

"You're only two years older than me, Alex Knightley," she points out. "I'll bet you a Hershey bar that I will understand!"

Alex hesitates, but finally admits in a quiet voice, "My first girlfriend broke up with me."

Emma opens her mouth, but for once, no words seem to want to come out. She shuts it, and finds herself frowning. "You had a girlfriend?"

"Told you you wouldn't understand," Alex mutters.

"No, I do!" Emma huffs, but softens, seeing how upset Alex really is. "You're still sad." She suddenly feels agitated, but doesn't know why. The thought of Alex holding hands with some other girl who doesn't even know him like she does makes her want to run to her room and pout in a corner. She looks back up at Alex, banishing the thoughts instantly at the tears brimming in his eyes.

"I liked her a lot," he admits in a small voice.

"Well," Emma says, voice brightening, "I think that you'll find someone prettier and nicer and funner in no time!" Alex chuckles.

They split the Hershey bar.

* * *

At fifteen, she buys a sapphire blue mermaid gown and is Alex's date to his junior prom. She gets a few odd looks from his friends, who ask him why he's taking a freshman to prom, but he shuts them up with a withering look. Emma wins over them soon enough, her infectious charm enough to overcome any upperclassman prejudices.

His eyes widen when she sweeps down her home's stairs, and she doesn't even try to hide her grin at the appreciative glint in his eyes.

"Since when did you grow up?" he asks when she reaches him. She snickers and reaches forward to straighten his tie, admiring his tuxedo.

"I've been grown up since I was five," she replies teasingly. He reaches over to a table near the stairwell and holds up her corsage, a white rose framed by blue silk ribbons, all tied to a sparkling (probably fake, but beautiful nevertheless) diamond bracelet.

"I hope it's okay," he says shyly, "I know you like things to match, so I wanted-"

"It's perfect!" Emma gushes, running past him to her refrigerator and grabbing his boutonniere, a white rose just like hers. She holds it up with a bright smile. "Looks like we both had the same idea." She pins it onto his tux with ease, and then holds out her wrist.

His eyes meet hers as he slips the corsage onto her wrist, and the errant image of him slipping a ring onto her finger fifteen years from now runs through her mind. She steadfastly pushes the image from her head, scolding herself for letting herself get lost in his gaze.

She's his friend. She's doing this as a favor to him.

A year later, when he takes his girlfriend of two months to his senior prom, she tells herself she's not jealous of this blonde honors student who has captured Alex's heart. She just wants to dress up and dance. It's the prom she's jealous of, not the date.

Not the date at all.

* * *

She's sitting alone in her apartment at the age of nineteen, her hair in a messy bun, her eyes red and puffy, when he lets himself in. He has the key, of course he does, it was one of her father's conditions whens he requested to live off campus for her sophomore year of college. Alex found her a place in his complex, and he's over almost every day, checking in or hanging out.

He quickly notices her state and is at her side in an instant, arms enfolding her in a hug. "He's an asshole," Alex says, and Emma smiles into his shoulder because Alex never curses. "He doesn't deserve you."

 _I don_ _'_ _t deserve you_ , Emma thinks to herself, feeling all-too comfortable in the arms of her best friend.

She wonders what it would be like to be in his arms all the time.

And, like every time before, she tells herself no and pushes on.

* * *

So yes, it shouldn't surprise her that she's in love with him.

God, has she ever _not_ been in love with him?

So, when he shows up a few days later, eyes soft and concerned for her, she doesn't push back her feelings. She revels in them, even though she's certain he's about to break her heart and confess his love for Harriet Smith.

Turns out, Alex Knightley is full of surprises.


End file.
